Logo

High 5s: 11/14/12

November 19, 2012

All three of this week's honorees have achieved some sort of first-time stardom this fall, either individually or as a team. And both Carli Snyder and Alex Grace will be back next fall to continue building on these accomplishments. 

Carli Snyder
Macomb Dakota junior
Volleyball

(UPDATED 11/19) Snyder, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, was an all-stater her first two seasons of high school. But she will be remembered even more for leading Macomb Dakota this fall to its first MHSAA championship in any girls sport. The Cougars defeated Temperance Bedford in three games in Saturday's Class A Final at Kellogg Arena. Snyder unofficially finished this season with 913 kills, good for seventh in the MHSAA record book since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Her 31 kills against Bedford were third-most for a Final during that time. Snyder already has committed to sign with the University of Florida next year. She likely will be among frontrunners for next fall's Miss Volleyball award. 

Title talk: "We wanted this thing so bad. Every girl on this team wanted it so badly. Megan (Manierski) was setting the ball perfectly. She made it very easy to get kills. ... Just talking about this moment, this gym, it makes you just want to play harder than you ever have."

Winning recipe: "We've been a competitive team in practice and in games all year, so I think that helped us at that moment (in three close Finals games) when we just didn't want to lose. We refused to lose. ... We support each other no matter what. And we hustled so hard."

Shake it up: "We have some secret handshakes with other people, but mine are very complex. I don't know how we went about that. Megan and mine is from "Parent Trap," and then Megan Downey and mine, we just made it up at team dinner. We make it a bit more complex than it needs to be, but it's fun. And it's a great thing to calm us down for a game when we've played a bad one before."

Had to be a Gator: "I like warm weather. I love the coaches. I actually called Florida for my recruiting phone call because I was kinda bored one day at home and I was like, 'I got a letter from them.' I fell in love with the coaching staff, and I told my mom that I needed to go on a visit down there. It's incredible, and when I went down there I was even more in love. Even on the phone, I knew this is where I would end up. It's just that feeling. You know when you get that feeling, and it's incredible."

Click to read more.

Alex Grace
Saginaw Swan Valley sophomore
Football

The Vikings' leading rusher is also one of the leading rushers in the state this season heading into Saturday's Division 4 Semifinal against Detroit Country Day. Grace has gained 2,091 yards plus run for 27 touchdowns, and needs only 109 yards and three more scores to make the MHSAA record book in both categories. He ran for 182 yards and three scores in the Vikings' Regional Final win over Croswell-Lexington. Grace took over as Swan Valley's running back this season after the graduation of his brother Johnathan, who rushed for 1,790 yards last season and now plays at Michigan Tech. Both brothers ran on Swan Valley's 400-meter relay that finished runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track and Field Final in the spring. Alex is 6-0 and 185 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

I'd like to run like: "Even my brother. I like to look at myself as close to him. Professionally, (Minnesota Vikings back) Adrian Peterson. He's a tough runner, fast. He's strong."

Underdogs again: "The last game against Croswell, they were the No. 2 team and we were predicted to lose. But we came back and beat them. I use that underdog feeling to work harder each day."

Best brotherly advice: "Work hard, and if there are doubters, don't let them get you down."

Science and math: (My favorite classes are) biology and economics. They just come easy to me. I enjoy it."

Click to read more. 

Flint Beecher football

The Buccaneers, coached by former Michigan State and NFL standout Courtney Hawkins, were one of the final teams selected for the playoffs, at 5-4 after a 3-4 start. But Beecher advanced to this week's Division 7 Semifinal against Detroit Loyola by eliminating reigning champion Saginaw Nouvel, 19-15, in last week's Regional championship game. Beecher, now 8-4, has made the playoffs six straight years. The first of that run came in Hawkins' second as coach and after 12 straight losing seasons. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

A Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central boys lacrosse player chases a Forest Hills Eastern player with the ball.

Preview: Last Season's Runners-Up Returning, Seeking to Take Final Step

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 5, 2026

Last season's MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Finals runners-up will attempt to finish as this season's champions Saturday at Howell Parker. 

But a pair of West Michigan hopefuls will be seeking to break up those celebrations. 

Detroit Country Day, last season's second-place team in Division 2, will face Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central for this year's title at 11 a.m. Detroit Catholic Central, last season's Division 1 runner-up, will then take on first-time finalist Hudsonville in the Division 1 championship game at 2 p.m.

Tickets cost $11 and are good for both games, and may be purchased online only at GoFan. Both games also will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv.

Below is a glance at all four contenders. Rankings as part of “best wins” are based on the Michigan Power Rating formula.

Division 1

DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/MPR: 16-5, No. 2
League finish: First in Catholic High School League Central
Coach: Dave Wilson, 20th season (309-106)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2024 and 2018, 10 runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 13-7 (Semifinal) and 14-4 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, 15-4 over No. 10 Brighton in Quarterfinal, 13-3 over No. 8 Ann Arbor Pioneer in Regional Final, 11-9 over No. 1 Rockford, 10-9 over Division 2 No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
Players to watch: Ryan Dye, sr. A; Travis Wasen, sr. G; Asher Miscovich. (Statistics not provided.)
Outlook: Detroit Catholic Central’s only in-state losses this season were to Division 2 finalist Detroit Country Day in the season opener and Brother Rice in the CHSL Bishop Tournament championship game, and the Shamrocks avenged the latter Wednesday to finish that season series with a 2-1 edge. This will be DCC’s fourth-straight championship game appearance, with last year’s runner-up finish coming on a 9-8 overtime loss to Rice. Dye made the all-state second team last season.

HUDSONVILLE
Record/MPR: 21-1, No. 3
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 2
Coach: Gunnar Elder, fifth season (66-30)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 11-3 over No. 4 Grand Ledge in Semifinal, 11-8 over No. 7 Hartland in Regional Final, 10-8 over No. 1 Rockford in Regional Semifinal, 14-12 over No. 10 Brighton, 11-10 over Division 2 No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 12-11 over Division 2 No. 10 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 10-4 over Division 2 No. 3 Caledonia.
Players to watch: Will Zuiderveen, sr. A (93 goals, 28 assists); Carson Campbell, soph. A (65 goals, 26 assists); Andrew McAleece, sr. A (40 goals, 29 assists); Andrew Hersberger, sr. G (6.09 goals-against average, .530 save %).
Outlook: After winning a third-straight league title, Hudsonville has taken another significant step this season reaching the Finals for the first time. Elder has been to this stage before – he was a three-time all-stater at East Grand Rapids and part of the 2011 Division 2 runner-up team. Zuiderveen made the Division 1 all-state first team last season and has paced an offense that also had received 29 goals from senior Lawsyn Weber, 24 from senior Zaidan Dykstra and 15 from junior Mason Weber entering the week. The lone loss came March 25 to Rockford, 18-5, and the Eagles avenged it in the Regional Semifinal.

Division 2

DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/MPR: 19-1, No. 1
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
Coach: JD Hess, first season (19-1)
Championship history: Four MHSAA titles (most recent 2024), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 16-8 (Regional Final) and 9-7 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 17-3 over No. 9 Okemos, 16-5 over No. 3 Caledonia, 13-7 over No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 17-8 over No. 18 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 15-4 over Division 1 No. 10 Brighton, 13-11 over Division 1 No. 1 Rockford, 16-6 over Division 1 No. 4 Grand Ledge, 16-9 over Division 1 No. 7 Hartland, 12-8 over Division 1 No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central.
Players to watch: Keaton Yearego, sr. A (68 goals, 60 assists); Mason Gal, sr. A (68 goals, 49 assists); Rhys Kenney, jr. A (74 goals, 59 assists); Bonner Upshaw, sr. D.
Outlook: Country Day ended a step shy of a repeat title a year ago, falling to East Grand Rapids 15-10 in the Final, but has returned for a fifth-straight championship game appearance with the majority of its top offensive players from last season. Yearego and Gal made the all-state first team last season, as did Upshaw on defense and senior Zain Halabi at SSDM. Hess took over the program after leading Cranbrook Kingswood the last five seasons. Country Day’s lone loss came to Carmel, Ind., 10-8.  

GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS CENTRAL
Record/MPR: 11-11, No. 18
League finish: Fifth in O-K Tier 1
Coach: Andy Shira, ninth season (123-45)
Championship history: Six MHSAA titles (most recent 2023), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 14-13 over No. 4 East Grand Rapids in Semifinal, 11-5 over No. 3 Caledonia in Quarterfinal, 11-10 (OT) over No. 10 Ada Forest Hills Eastern in Regional Final, 18-9 over No. 9 Okemos, 15-2 over Division 1 No. 10 Brighton.
Players to watch: Henry McNamara, sr. M (35 goals, 22 assists); Blake Teliczan, jr. M (48 goals, 23 assists); Michael Timmer, jr. G (8.78 goals-against average, .560 save %); Luke Nuo, jr. D.
Outlook: Forest Hills Central is in the midst of a stunning run after losing 10 of its first 12 games this season. The Rangers have avenged two of those defeats, to Forest Hills Eastern and East Grand Rapids, during the postseason and will attempt to do the same Saturday after falling to Country Day 17-8 on April 14. Teliczan made the all-state second team last season, McNamara and Nuo made the third team and junior Lars Dupuie earned honorable mention at FOGO. Juniors Finn Brunink (29 goals), Brody Nieuwkoop and Andrew Karas (both 22 goals) also have averaged a goal or more per game.

(Photo by Michigan Sports Photo.)